The Temporary and Agency Workers (Equal Treatment) Bill proposed by Labour MP Andrew Miller has been withdrawn following an announcement in Parliament.
The death of the Bill was inevitable following the announcement earlier this week that employers’ groups and the trade unions had reached an agreement on the rights of agency workers.
The government will now turn its attention back to agreeing a workable Agency Workers Directive in the European Parliament in Brussels.
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Anne Fairweather, head of public policy at the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, which represents employment agencies, said: “The Private Members Bill was so broad and far-reaching that it would have been disastrous. The fact that it has now been abandoned is a welcome development.”
Fairweather added that employers’ representatives now faced the challenge to ensure the provisions of the directive were clear. Any new legislation could introduced in October 2009.
